Getting a couple of days to spend time with my immediate family members and their families up in Northern CA.
Absolutely wonderful…

About six months ago I got a check from a job I did and was inspired to go buy myself a jacket.  Big surprise…I know. 

(I. Love. Jackets.)

So I went down to the GAP and noticed a hugemongous sale they were having on coats–on JUST the day I went to buy a coat.  Well, obviously, my one coat purchase turned into two…and then three…because um…they were having a ridiculously good sale…and…uh…somehow these jackets seemed more important to me at the time then food or paying the rent.   And in my hasty jacket-buying spree I stumbled upon a brown corduroy coat that fit quite nicely and decided that we all could use a little more corduroy in our lives–especially since my closet is inexplicably filled with black clothes…or at least clothes that used to be black.

One problem:
I have no idea how to wear a brown corduroy jacket. 

Correction:
I have no idea how to wear brown corduroy ANYTHING.

But that didn’t stop me from getting it…and it’s been sitting in my closet for a while now, unworn.

So today I decided to ditch my usual black biker jacket and wear the brown cord jacket with a pair of black jeans.  Christy says to me, “You know, you aren’t supposed to wear brown and black together.  Heidi just yelled at me for doing it the other day.” 

THANKS, DEAR.

Now what am I supposed to do???

Can someone out there helps a fashion-challenged dude wear his brown jacket?

I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!

I liked it.

Christy hated it.

This is only worth mentioning because for this type of movie our respective opinions this time around are VERY atypical.

Anyone else out there see it?
Thoughts?

I’m pretty good at working hard to accomplish a goal.  I often excel at task-oriented activities and completing lists of things…kind of a “worker bee”, if you will (this is why I am great with deadlines and finite/concrete ideas).  In addition, my obsessive nature, passion, care for others, and the burden I have to fulfill my purpose for being on this earth makes me a good leader. 

But I stink at giving gifts.

I’m HORRIBLE at it, in fact.

And I just want to take this opportunity to apologize for past and future failures in this area TO THE WHOLE WORLD.

I can’t tell you what it is about me that makes giving gifts so difficult…it is probably a combination of not knowing what one wants,  not having the judgment and foreknowledge to ascertain what one might like as a gift,  and therefore feeling like my gift might “miss the mark” by a hundred miles.   I’m sure we all can break this down psychologically for a long time…but let’s just say I STINK AT IT. 

And my poor wife has to deal with it the most out of anybody.  I finally gave her a birthday present this past Monday (her bday is in early December) and I accidentally skipped one  Christmas entirely for her…

And don’t even get me started on my immediate family…my poor, poor, family.  (SORRY MOM AND DAD! and brothers and sisters…)

(hanging my head in shame)

I did OK this Christmas because I just up and ASKED Christy what she wanted…and then went immediately out to get it. (I also took the kids shopping for her a couple of times, to attempt to break this sad cycle of gift-giving failure).

Well, this weekend is Valentines Day…and I planned ahead.
FINALLY.

So tonight we will celebrate some time away from the kids on a special date…and celebrate our love. 

So listen up:

TO ALL THE DUDES OUT THERE:

Treat your ladies RIGHT this weekend!!! If you’re in a relationship, Valentines day IS A BIG DEAL to the ladies.  I’ve experienced some v-day FAILs before, and it’s no good. 
It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy, it just has to be loving and thoughtful.  So TREAT ‘EM RIGHT. 

And don’t be a bad gift giver like me.
You’ll never live it down.

Today I was thinking about how different my life was three years ago. 
And now I will turn those thinky thoughts into a bloggity blog.
…in list form, of course.

THINGS I CARED ABOUT IN 2007 THAT DON’T MATTER MUCH TO ME IN 2010:

1)  www.lastfm.com

When I was working at APU doing data entry from 9-5 I often listened to music through my computer’s iTunes library via headphones (as not to disturb my fellow workers with the latest action movie soundtrack).  I got into lastfm.com through a friend.  It is a site that links to your iTunes library (through a software download) and puts up on the web all of the songs you’ve been listening to.  It tracks your listening habits and keeps tallies of your favorite songs, artists, and styles and suggests other tunes you might enjoy.  You can also be friends with people and see your musical taste compatibility, blah blah blah…
I no longer work at APU, and don’t really care to have the interwebs linked to my computer at home tracking how many times I’ve listened to Lady GaGa or Black Eyed Peas.   So I deleted the application and my account sometime last year.  I’m over it.

2) www.myspace.com

There are so many jokes that have been made about the ghetto-ness of Myspace nowadays–but in 2007 was all the rage.  I had some friends and we were doing the social networking thing.   It was cool for then–but when I think about facebook now?  It BLOWS it out of the water.  I log in to my myspace page about once every two months…and I can’t believe there are people that still use it. 

3) Heroes on NBC

This show started off with a BANG!  Remember “Save the cheerleader, save the world”?  It was epic.  Friends came over to watch it at our house all the time because it was so much fun…
now the show is basically a joke.  I gave WAY up around the start of season 3 (season 2 was cut short due to the writer’s strike).   I can’t believe it’s still on the air…and I doubt it will be for long.

4) LA Fitness

This gym membership sucked 29 bucks out of my monthly budget for very little in return.   I went for a long time, but all I really care about at a gym is the treadmill…so I’d be better off saving 29 dollars a month until I have enough dough to buy my own at home.   Plus, who enjoys working out in front of other people?  Not me…not me.

And that’s all I can think of right now…anything on YOUR list?

Also–just a quick reminder to all friends and family:

Don’t forget to tune in to watch the Winter Olympics this Friday night on NBC!
I orchestrated and wrote choral parts for a few songs that will be in the opening ceremonies.

Oh yeah, and there are some other things going on that night too…like…sporty things.

Just ask my little brother, John.

It’s true what Scar and those weird hyenas sang about in the Lion King: you’ve got to be prepared.

If you’re going to give your best at anything, it never comes by “off the cuff” work, or “improv” effort.  The best things I’ve ever seen accomplished around here happen because of a great deal of preparation and hard work. 

On Saturday, Christy and Nathaniel had to stay up in the L.A. area to shoot a commercial–so Noah and I went down to San Diego by ourselves and spent the entire day together hanging out.  But we didn’t go do fun-time-type things–I had to work most of the day.  So we hung out together around work and going back and forth from appointments so I could be ready for Sunday–and we stayed in my office until 8:30pm Saturday night working on all types of things.  Not the most fun thing for a 6 year-old to do, but he was a TROOPER. 
And so was his Nintendo D.S. (don’t judge).

But I was prepared.  More than I can remember in a long time–and it was incredibly helpful for the services and rehearsals that took place that day. 
We have a LOT going on, and my lack of preparation as a leader will make or break us at this point.  I’ve GOT to be prepared.
And so do you.

Be prepared!